Structured Methods in Language Education: SMILE

This paper describes a method of language intervention, Structured Methods in Language Education (SMILE), used with students having severe language disabilities due to such factors as autistic disorder, central auditory dysfunction, impaired hearing, or mental handicap. SMILE develops a hierarchy of skills leading from phonology to morphology to syntax. It starts with the smallest unit of language, the phoneme, which is immediately associated with its written representation, the grapheme. As soon as the sound system and a number of words have been learned, syntax is taught through linguistic string formulas and sentence patterns. The teaching progresses from simple to complex at each level of the curriculum. The SMILE approach also incorporates development of attention, specific and consistent teaching methodology, use of structure and routine, immediate reinforcement, successive approximations leading to exact repetition, pattern practice and substitution/transformation drills, and ongoing attention to generalization. Student learning and progress is shared with parents by means of individualized "books" showing new skills. (DB)